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Overcast The pandemic gives states one more thing to fight about
In case you haven’t noticed it, there are all kinds of battles going on between legislators and governors all over the country. As far south as Texas and as far north as Albany, elected officials are fighting over electrical power and political power. Unlike a boxing match, when the dust has settled and the fighters retreat to their corners, there will be no winners.
The most horrible case of government malpractice has occurred in Texas. It’s hard to believe that the most energy-rich state in the nation can go into a deep freeze impacting the lives of 28 million people. Wherever you travel in Texas, you’ll find oil rigs, natural gas facilities and ancient coal plants. With all those sources of power, a major cold wave hit the state in mid-February and froze much of the energy-generating equipment.
When the temperature dropped, the state’s public utility corporation was totally unprepared to stop its generators from freezing. This is especially disconcerting considering that in 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the federal agency in charge of America’s energy resources, told Texas energy officials that they had to winterize their power facilities to prevent them from freezing over if hit by a major storm.
Texas has always taken the position that its power plants shouldn’t be regulated by the federal government. They have gone as far as to decline to be tied into any power system in a neighboring state. New York, for example, is connected to a national grid, and when the state suffers a power loss, it can buy excess power from our surrounding states. During a typical summer heat wave, utilities such as Con Edison and PSE&G buy out-of-state power.
When the cold descended on Texas, the first thing the Republican governor and lieutenant governor did was to blame the freeze on the wind and solar industry, claiming those energy sectors had caused the shutdown. They even attacked the so-called Green New Deal, which is a proposal and not a law. After a few days of ducking and weaving from Democratic assaults, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick conceded that the state-owned system needed to be winterized. In the interim, some homeowners are getting energy bills in the thousands of dollars due to the breakdowns in the system.
The other battle for power is going on between numerous governors and their state legislatures over Covid restrictions. It seems that a number of legislatures, including New York’s, are tired of their governors dictating to the states on mask wearing, business openings and a variety of other restrictions. It has gotten so bad in some states that Republican legislators are battling Republican governors, calling them “dictators.”
The New York legislative battle between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the leaders of the Legislature has been temporarily resolved with an agreement that Cuomo’s executive powers will be suspended by the end of April and the Legislature will play a greater role. Much of what will happen is linked to the fate of Cuomo, who is under fire amid allegations of sexual harassment.
There is more to this power struggle than just a tug of war for control. Individual legislators have claimed that Cuomo has threatened them personally, and they are looking to restrict his powers. It’s no secret in Albany that Cuomo has a reputation for being a tough boss, and he never hides his feelings, but new laws will not settle this brawl.
I’m not an expert on health issues, but it seems that the Covid-19 has another side effect. It causes politicians to go into fits of rage and attack each other for weeks on end with little to show for it.
Jerry Kremer was a state assemblyman for 23 years, and chaired the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee for 12 years. He now heads Empire Government Strategies, a business development and legislative strategy firm. Comments about this column? JKremer@liherald.com.
